


traditions

by skeletonqueen



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: M/M, more domestic nonsense, wrote on a whim for fathers day because i have hands
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:34:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24850906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skeletonqueen/pseuds/skeletonqueen
Summary: "So what was it you learned exactly?"She twisted around to look at Isa, her eyes bright with excitement. "There's this holiday I guess, right? I don't know if it's celebrated on other worlds or not–" She was speaking animatedly, bouncing around in place. Lea was worried the box would fall but she kept it steady, somehow. "Basically there's this whole day that's like, dedicated to dads and stuff, right?"
Relationships: Isa & Lea & Roxas & Xion (Kingdom Hearts), Isa/Lea (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 67





	traditions

It was an uneventful Sunday morning. Everything about the day had gone how it usually did. Isa woke up first, set up the coffee pot and quietly put away some dishes before Lea had come padding into the kitchen, rubbing at his eyes sleepily and following the smell of the freshly brewed coffee. The two of them talked quietly over their drinks as Roxas and Xion eventually rolled out of bed and down the stairs.

Lea made _weekend waffles_ —which had long since been established were exactly the same as waffles eaten on any other day of the week except he had made them one weekend as a joke, only to do the same thing the following month, then the following week, until it had eventually just become their thing that they did on Sunday mornings. It was a solely Lea pursuit, he accepted no help from anyone else whilst he prepared them, insisted it was his treat for them. 

He placed down the large plate in the center of the table, as well as bowls of chopped fresh fruits—bananas, strawberries and blueberries this week. The four of them helped themselves to what they wanted and the conversation was easy around the table, Xion and Isa discussing something they'd seen in the news, Xion spilling some of her orange juice as she talked animatedly. Roxas brought up Hayner's guitar, mentioning that it was busted and was getting in the way of important band practice (whatever that meant).

Roxas and Xion finished up before announcing they had plans to hang out with Hayner and Pence today. The two of them fought over who got to shower first (Xion won three rounds of rock-paper-scissors) and before noon the apartment was mostly quiet again, save for the sound of Isa washing dishes. Lea shuffled back into the kitchen and stood beside Isa, quietly drying dishes and putting them away, Isa occasionally bumping into his shoulder as they went about their routine. 

The day went by as uneventfully as morning had, Isa stepped out to get some groceries whilst Lea made his way through most of the laundry that had accumulated in between reading a sci-fi novel Xion had recommended. As far as days went it was delightfully boring. Mundane in the highest sense of the word, there was a level of normality in it that neither Lea nor Isa were ever sure they'd quite get used to. 

Evening rolled around and Lea was aware the later it got, the more he was glancing down at his phone to check for new messages or missed calls. His leg bounced up and down before Isa quietly placed a hand on his knee. "Hey, they're fine." Isa gave him a small smile and Lea groaned at himself in response. 

"I know, I know. It's just, y'know, I–"

"You worry, constantly." He paused, watching as Lea tried to fumble around for words. "I do too, but they're good kids, Lea, if they need us they'll call. You know that." Lea dropped his head, scratched the back of his neck and sighed. Isa was right, of course. He knew they were good kids, they weren't likely to cause trouble, and they were more than capable of looking after themselves. Still, that didn't stop small anxieties niggling in the back of his mind.

It was almost 11pm when the two teens got home. Lea glanced at the clock, took a deep breath and did his best not to remind the two of them that it _was_ a school night or that curfew was two hours ago, and that they should have at least sent him a text to let him know they were fine. He was trying–really trying–not to be overbearing, or to be the guy who rained on their parade when they were just figuring themselves out. 

They bounded out of the entryway, bags in tow and Xion held up a hand before either Isa or Lea had a chance to say a word. "We are _so_ sorry." Isa sat up straight but Xion continued on undeterred. "Roxas left his phone upstairs and my battery died so I couldn't tell you guys we were gonna be late. We tried calling from Hayner's but I think I got your number wrong like four times before I gave up."

Lea nodded, and Isa could practically feel the tension drain out of the other man as his shoulders relaxed and his posture shifted as he sunk back into the sofa. "Alright… did you guys eat anything while you were out?" 

"Yeah, we grabbed somethin' on the way back." Roxas nodded, holding up a bag of take-out leftovers and snorting at the face Isa made. 

Flopping down on the sofa between Lea and Isa, Xion's elbows prodded at the both of them as she beamed at them. She shuffled around in her spot and squished herself into the cushions. "Hey, but listen! We learned a thing today." She held her hands out and Roxas placed a cardboard box in her hands. Isa glanced up at Lea, eyebrow raised in a question. The other man just shrugged in response as Roxas perched on the arm of the sofa, grinning. 

"So what was it you learned exactly?" 

She twisted around to look at Isa, her eyes bright with excitement. "There's this holiday I guess, right? I don't know if it's celebrated on other worlds or not–" She was speaking animatedly, bouncing around in place. Lea was worried the box would fall but she kept it steady, somehow. "Basically there's this whole day that's like, dedicated to dads and stuff, right?" 

Roxas leaned over Lea, resting his elbow on his shoulder as if he was part of the sofa. "Not just actual dads though, right, it can be father figures and stuff too. That's what Hayner said anyway, he says he usually gets something for both of his moms instead." 

"Yeah, right! Pence said that he usually gets his uncle something instead, since his dad isn't around and– and, right! So it's traditional to get gifts so–" Xion abruptly lifted the box up off of her lap and held it out at arms length. 

Lea leant back slightly to catch Isa's eye, mouthing 'what is happening?' at him. Isa just shook his head, staring back at the box Xion was holding out. The holiday Xion was describing was definitely something they were both familiar with. For Lea it had usually been a pretty decent day, though Isa's opinions on it were the opposite. 

Roxas poked at Lea's forehead from where he was leaning. "We figured we could do something nice for you. A thanks, y'know." 

"It's not much, we were kind of on short notice." Xion carefully opened up the box and pulled out two haphazardly wrapped shapes. She carefully held them out, gesturing for Lea and Isa to take them from her with a gentle bump of her shoulders. Isa gingerly took the one offered to him, Lea mirroring his actions on the other side of Xion. Lea tore at the paper whilst Isa carefully picked at the sticky tape (far too much for the size of whatever it was.)

The two men looked up at each other as they held out their new gifts– handmade matching blue mugs. They had an exceptionally shiny glaze to them, both with a mirrored gold sun and moon design on the front. Lea's had a golden handle whilst Isa's was a solid blue and the moon was a little bigger. 

"Happy Father's Day to the two coolest not-quite-dads we could have asked for!" Roxas and Xion spoke in unison and Lea wondered if they'd practiced beforehand. Xion looped her arms through Isa and Lea's tugging them closer towards her and giggled up at them as Roxas slung an arm across Lea's shoulder. 

"So, y'know. Thanks, for everything that you guys have done for us." Roxas awkwardly rubbed under his nose (a very Sora habit, Isa noted) as his cheeks flushed a little. "It's not always perfect or easy, and, y'know. We're all still figuring stuff out, but… Well, we just wanted to let you know that we really do appreciate you and– No! Don't you dare." Roxas tried to shift out of the way as Lea tugged him off the arm of the sofa into a hug. Xion squealed as he toppled over and she gently loosened her grip on Isa's arm and threw her arms around Lea and Roxas. 

"You're– I don't... " Lea stumbled over his words, brows furrowing. Isa could see that familiar glint in his eyes as they got all watery and smiled softly to himself as Roxas gave in and wrapped an arm around Lea and Xion.

"Oh wait, hold on." Roxas untangled himself from the hug and reached into another of the bags they'd brought in and left on the floor, pulling out a card and handing it to Lea as he sat cross legged on the floor. 

Opening the envelope, Lea pulled out a card with two rabbits on the front with a green plaid pattern that read _'What a Dad!'_ across the front. Xion groaned as he took it out. "We tried really hard to find a good one, we really did but apparently it's hard on such short notice– Hey, are you okay?"

He didn't seem to care about what was _on_ the front, rather just the intention behind it in the first place. The tears that had been threatening to fall finally spilled down his cheeks and Isa reached over and gently rubbed at his shoulder. "You two didn't have to do this, you know." He smiled over at Roxas, who glanced down at his feet. "Thank you, though. Really." 

Lea sniffed loudly, wiping at his face with his shoulder as best he could with Xion still holding on to him. He opened his mouth a few times, closing it each time as he tried to compose himself and get his thoughts out. "You're both so important to me–to us." His voice cracked just a little as he spoke. "I love you guys, you know that right?" 

Roxas made a humming sound as he pretended to think over Lea's words before nodding. "Yeah, we know."  
  
"We got that super memorized." Xion tried to wriggle her way out of Lea's grasp as he poked at her sides in response to her remark.

After Lea had managed to compose himself, the four of them ended up bundling together on the sofa, blankets had been pulled from someone's room and a silly cartoon movie put on the TV (the fact it was a school night, long since forgotten). They spent the rest of the night eating awful snacks and passing comments about the terrible animation of the movie, and it was _nice_ to just get to spend some time together like this. They didn't do it often enough. 

When they finally retired to bed for the night, Isa found Lea unusually quiet as he curled up on his side. Isa wrapped an arm around Lea's waist, kissing the back of his shoulder softly and listened to the way Lea's breath stuttered slightly. He gave him a minute before he finally whispered, "D'you want to talk about it?" 

Lea was quiet before he rolled over onto his side and buried his face against Isa's chest, mumbling into the soft cotton of his shirt. "What was that?" 

"Thank you." 

"Me?" Isa found a loose strand of Lea's hair, combing it through with his fingers. "What did I do?"

Lea shrugged against him. "Y'know, they wouldn't be here without you helpin' out. 'N then you made me feel like I was good enough to take on the responsibility in the first place, _and_ shouldered half of it with me when you didn't have to." Lea slid his arm under the pillow and let out a deep breath. "Being called their ' _legal guardian'_ or whatever is one thing, but I don't really feel like a 'dad', more like–"

"The fun older brother." 

Lea snorted. "Right. But, y'know, I'm just gonna keep at it. Doing right by them, I mean."

Isa tucked the hair behind Lea's ear, and traced his thumb over Lea's cheekbone, wiping away remnants of his tears. "It is what you've always tried to do. I know you often question whether you're deserving of having them around and having the privilege of being part of their life. I do too, it's natural I suppose, what with all the bad in our shared history, to put it _extremely_ lightly." Lea groaned, curling up against Isa. He gripped Lea's waist tighter, "I know, I know you hate hearing it." 

"But it's their choice. _They_ think you deserve it and that's all that should matter. Every day you wake up and every day you choose to be there for them, and that's what counts. Whether you feel like you fit the part or not, you show up, and that's what counts." 

Lea looked up at him, eyes glittering again in what little light was in the room. Fresh tears fell down his cheeks and Isa's face softened. "What?"

"Nothin'. I'm just happy is all." 

**Author's Note:**

> this was mostly written bc in the last thing i posted i joking included a father's day card on the refrigerator and so... here is how it ended up there i guess!! 
> 
> thank you for reading, and to those of you who celebrate father's day, i hope it was a good one. and for those who are like me... i hope it was a good sunday!


End file.
